


Of His Kind

by thecountessolivia



Category: Hannibal Extended Universe - Fandom
Genre: BunElias and LittleWolf, Gen, Hannistag, M/M, hannibal extended universe - fandom - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-27 04:59:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20040307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecountessolivia/pseuds/thecountessolivia
Summary: Based onthis beautiful artbyFlyingRotten.Originally published in ahand-bound book by @ArmoredHeavy





	Of His Kind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FlyingRotten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyingRotten/gifts).

> Based on [this beautiful art](https://twitter.com/CamilleCailloux/status/1112350027366711298?s=20) by [FlyingRotten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyingRotten/).
> 
> Originally published in a [hand-bound book by @ArmoredHeavy](https://twitter.com/CamilleCailloux/status/1154004543476248576)

Springs come and go. The forests and meadows never grow back the same. But there is one thing Elias can rely on: when the waters become still and a strange silence fills the woods, the giant stag-headed creature will appear on the banks of the stream.

Though he returns older each time, little else about the beast changes: the ragged fur, the branching antlers, the eyes like shiny red pebbles from the dark bottom of the stream. The torn up ear. The scent of death.

How many years had passed since Elias and Little Wolf first saw him? In all this time, they have yet to see another one of his kind.

The two of them had been splashing about in the water, making merry noise. Elias smelled the stag before they ever saw him. How they ran then to hide, how they trembled behind a leaf for fear of being spotted and eaten up. But the beast drank his fill and vanished back into the trees.

A new spring arrives, and so does the stag.

"He doesn't smell so much like death today," Elias whispers to Little Wolf as they watch from their hiding place.

When he’s done drinking, the stag stays crouched at the water's edge and stares into the surface. He is very still, arms wrapped about himself. Elias and Little Wolf are very still too, spellbound by this one-of-a-kind beast.

"Hmm," sighs Elias, when the stag finally leaves, and the rustling sound of his hooves fades into the forest.

"Wah?" asks Little Wolf.

"He’s lonely," Elias says and Little Wolf sighs too, and nods.

“I was very lonely before I found you, Little Wolf,” adds Elias. Little Wolf _wah'_s softly and hugs him so fast and tight that they go tumbling from their hiding spot into the stream.

—

Next year, spring doesn’t want to come. Snow piles high at the doorstep to Elias’ hut. The winter preserves are almost gone — they must set out in search of food.

At least the ice has broken on the stream. The water runs free. Elias and Little Wolf make a boat from sticks and dead leaves, and row it carefully through the rough springtime current. Down around the big bend, towards the clearing where the rocky hills rise and where the apples and acorns sometimes can be found buried in the snow. They climb the bank, to the mouth of a cave and the snow mounds that lie there and the snowdrops that bloom nearby.

While they dig, they hear a rustling deep within the cave. It's strangely familiar and oh so frightening. They dash, hearts racing, for a dark cranny in the rocks. They wait and watch.

Something stirs at the entrance, a looming shadow — an antlered shadow. Elias gasps, and so does Little Wolf. The creature staggers from the darkness of the cave into the cold, bright day. There's no mistaking what he is: a young, dark-furred stag.

He looks so hungry. He looks so alone. He shivers as he wraps both arms about himself. Elias has seen the same gesture before.

The creature sighs and stomps off through the snow, towards the woods.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Little Wolf?" asks Elias, when the stag is safely out of sight.

"Wah!" replies Wolf, eyes bright.

Now there is only one thing to do. They need a plan, a clever plan. Because if there's one thing Elias knows, it's that bitter winters and hungry springs are made kinder when one has a mate. 


End file.
